DEVELOPMENTAL ANATOMY AND ULTRASTRUCTURE OF THE ANT-FOOD BODIES (BECCARIIAN BODIES) OF MACARANGA TRILOBA AND M. HYPOLEUCA (EUPHORBIACEAE)

Macaranga is a common secondary growth tree of S.E. Asia. Nine species possess hollow stems which harbor an ant colony, and also produce food bodies which are eaten by the ants. In return, the ants protect the plant from herbivore damage. The multicellular food bodies of M. triloba (Bl.) Muell. Arg. are developed on the underside of down-turned clasping stipules, while in M. hypoleuca (Reichb. f. and Zoll.) Muell. Arg. they are produced on the abaxial surface of young leaves. Food body cells of both species are very rich in lipid, contain large starch grains, and possess an electron-dense hyaloplasm. It is proposed to name the Macaranga ant-food bodies Beccariian bodies in honor of the Italian botanist Odoardo Beccari who explored S.E. Asia in the late 1800s.